Big Foot High School considering repairs

WALWORTH  Big Foot High School this summer likely will undergo badly needed repairs to its roof and classrooms, school board members indicated Thursday.

The board and administrators reviewed a lengthy list of projects, estimated at $820,000. It’s likely the district will tackle a portion of the repairs while setting others aside to limit spending.

No action was taken, but the four board members present during Thursday’s meeting seemed to favor two projects more than others: repairing the school’s roof, and tearing up carpeting in the library and a handful of classrooms.

“We’ve put it off,” board Clerk Edward Hayden said of the roof repairs. “We’ve been doing these patch jobs, and we haven’t even kept up with the patch jobs. I think it’s time for us to just recognize that it’s got to be done.”

District Administrator Dorothy Kaufmann identified at least five areas where water seeps into the school. The board doesn’t plan to make an official decision until it receives an actual cost and additional details about its borrowing needs.

The board believed repairing the roof would cost $261,000, but there was confusion about whether that included $85,000 for refinishing.

“We’ve talked about this before, but to me this is the No. 1 thing we have to take care of before anything else,” Hayden said.

Expenses for taking up carpeting in classrooms wasn’t as clear. The cost would be about $20,000 for the library, but spending on classrooms will depend on how many are repaired.

The board favored laying vinyl tile in the classrooms while replacing carpet in the library.

Principal Mike Hinske said carpet in several classrooms has exposed seams. The flooring project was given higher priority because of safety concerns.

Also near the top of the list is infrastructure for improving the school’s technology. That includes wireless Internet through the building.

The school’s elevator, which Hinske said is out of order, will need to be repaired, board members said.

Among the other projects being considered by the board are:

-- Improvements to athletics facilities. Repairing 36,000 square feet of tennis courts is $46,000, resurfacing the 400-meter track is $28,000 and fixing the high jump is about $22,000.

-- Replacing the school’s truck and tractor. Including trade-in savings, a new truck would cost about $22,500 and a tractor nearly $29,600. The tractor is used for snow removal.

-- Refinishing the kitchen flooring and buying more efficient water heaters.

“I don’t know if we can do all these things,” board President Sue Pruessing said. “There are going to have to be some really tough decisions here.